Blackstone considers breaking up chunks of hotel giant Hilton

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PRIVATE equity firm Blackstone is preparing to break up its investment in the Hilton hotel giant chain under plans to realise value from the group.<br /><br />The plans, which come ahead of debt repayments three and four years away, are believed to be at an early stage. <br /><br />The business is still mulling options for the hotel group, including public listings of part of the chain along geographic lines, debt-for-equity swaps, as well as a trade sale of some of its hotels to peers.<br /><br />Blackstone bought the hotel chain for $26bn in 2007 at the peak of the buyout bubble, financed by $20.6bn of debt and about $5.7bn of equity.<br /><br />Last month it was revealed that Blackstone has already written down its investment in Hilton Hotels by nearly half at the end of 2008.